Books published by publisher Thistledown Press

Caruso’s prose performs for us like a clown on highwire – funny but dangerous. Her characters unselfconsciously speculate about their sexuality amid the least likely of circumstances – from early morning Mass, to the doctor’s waiting room. These stories bristle with pathos beneath their apparently mundane veneers and are deadly accurate in anointing recognition to adult innocent yearnings.

Bertrand Smith is a lucky kid: his dad works in animal research at Triumph University in Langley, BC, and Bertrand is always welcome to drop by the laboratory. He and his best friend Ariel take full advantage, because Professor Smith is working on a truly unique project: Sequenced Mental Accelerated Research Trials. Based on genetic selection and training, this experiment attempts to increase canine intelligence to approximate that of a human child’s. Bertrand and Ariel are thrilled about the project, and the site of the university becomes a roaming ground for the duo and their favourite test subject, SMART Dog 73. The dog, however, is more than an experimental subject to Bertrand: he renames her Libra, and she and the boy establish an extraordinary connection. Professor Smith plans to adopt Libra once the research is complete, but the ruthless Dean of Biology demands that he continue with the project and breed SMART Dog 73 to produce a litter of super pups. Libra births five brilliant offspring, equipped with even more skills and possibilities than their mother. The research continues, but Ariel, through a quick Internet search, discovers a chilling revelation that sends the kids and their canine counterparts on a dangerous mission. Through risky espionage, pupnapping, and explosive conclusions, Craig Spence sprints the reader alongside the quick–witted characters as they snake through traps and create diversions of their own to stop the exploitation of the SMART dogs.

Anne "Tenn" Tennyson Miller's adventure begins during an ordinary ferry trip, but reality soon melts away as Tenn is transported to the fantasy land of Greensward. When she arrives in Greensward, Tenn is elected to rescue her new friend, Una, who has been spirited away to a nearby country occupied by evil forces determined to destroy the harmony of Greensward. Before she sets out on her dangerous mission she is trained by the wise woman, Bethan, who understands the enemy's weaknesses and offers Tenn resources and information that can help her on her mission. Once in enemy territory she uses Bethan's supplies and teachings, as well as her own keen memory and wealth of knowledge, to sustain her quest. She is eventually successful in finding Una but then discovers that there are many other children who must also be saved and returned to Greensward. This classic fantasy quest from established YA author Joan Givner takes young readers on an adventure written in the British tradition, fused with a contemporary voice. Givner alludes to the work of Tennyson, as "Tenn" loves poetry, story and rhyme; in fact it will be her love of great writers that helps her in her quest and leads her to success.

In the 1870s, a teenage criminal from New York makes history when he becomes the first person arrested by Canada’s newly created national police force — the original RCMP. Following this encounter, he unwillingly accompanies the North West Mounted Police on their 1874 expedition into Canada’s untamed and lawless west. At first the street-smart youth privately mocks his Mountie companions, but after sharing their hardships he comes to identify with them. The March West, as it became known, was quite well documented. The Mounties first commissioner, George A. French, gathered 275 policemen (the youngest of whom was a 16 year old), 339 horses, 142 oxen, 114 Red River carts, 73 wagons, and two cannons each weighing a ton. From Fort Dufferin, near Winnipeg, they headed 800 miles west toward the Rocky Mountains, to restore order in the northwest. They endured terrible hardships: lack of water and firewood, and insect plagues. Most of the horses died, and the equipment soon proved to be inadequate. Their fate changes when the force meets up with Jerry Potts, an extraordinary guide, who leads them to the hub of the illegal whiskey trade at Fort Whoop-up.This rollicking and humorous historical adventure story sheds light on a colourful chapter of Canadian history, one most Canadian writers have largely ignored. In McDivitt’s capable hands it comes to life again.

“The world is merely wallpaper. Hide behind it. ”At last Jordan Elliott has a gift. He can disappear but at what price? The Beggar King never gives without taking. Jordan is about to discover that everything has an underside: even magic, even him.A political coup on Jordan’s fifteenth birthday brings the disappearance of many Cirrans, including his mother. Brinnian guards have imprisoned them at an unknown location.The time is also coming for Jordan to choose a vocation and take his robes, and not a single talent has revealed itself besides a gift for mischief. On his sixteenth birthday he risks everything in a defiant act punishable by hanging. The guards spot him; he is doomed.When the Beggar King offers him the gift of disappearing, he has no choice but to accept. Who is this man, anyway? No one believes there’s such thing as a Beggar King.But there is, and he means to bring back the undermagic, a dangerous dark power from long ago. Jordan needs this power to save his mother, so he agrees to help the sorcerer. But he discovers that the undermagic is difficult to give up once you’ve tried it. And there is always a price, a terrible price, which the Beggar King does not name in advance.

Cheating Fate is the charged story of four teens, all best friends, who have grown up together in a small town in the BC interior. Loyal, compassionate, and trusting they accept their friendship bonds with a resoluteness that only another teen could understand. But when they survive a serious snowmobile accident and discover they share remarkable and frightening memories of their near-death experience, they fear that their fates are sealed and that they will die at some unknown time - together. The action is paced through four distinct voices Sukhwinder, a laidback Indo-Canadian teenager who loves his friends but gets lured into illegal activity with his urban cousins; Kyle, a restless teen wanting to conquer the motocross world with extreme riding; Jeremy, a sensitive teenager craving attention from a busy single father and absentee mother; and Cassidy, the only girl in the group of friends who fears for the boys and their flawed sense of invincibility.Tension builds as the teens decide they must separate into pairs to cheat fate rather than tempt it. But in their separate realities, and vulnerable delusions, they surrender to the idea that life without each other is not worth living. In coming to terms with their emerging spiritualities and recklessly challenging their own mortalities, they learn that there are no human powers to alter fate.

Voiceless is a coming-of-age novel with a twist: it features a teen runaway who has no speaking voice. Nicknamed Ghost, runaway teen Annabel's interaction with her world is limited to how well she can convey her wants and feelings to others, and how intuitive the other characters are in interpreting her expressions and gestures. Danger lurks in many places and she faces harrowing situations when she leaves her foster home with a tough and messed up boy and hitchhikes to the city. Once there, the danger intensifies as she confronts a rounder who expects sex in return for shelter. How she survives without her voice adds significant tension to the story. What has driven Ghost to the road is love.She misses her mother's love, and felt her grandmother's love was inadequate. In her quest, she finds Mary who rescues her and other runaways, just as she rescues abused horses. It is Mary who gives her a chance to rediscover the peace that can be found in nature and allows Ghost to discover her love of horses - but she seeks a more intimate love and mistakenly overlooks Tully who would protect her and respect her, in favour of Graydon who would do neither. It is Graydon, damaged by an abusive past, who seeks the respect and approval of an older abusive rounder and in the process endangers Ghost both physically and emotionally. Further conflict arises when another runaway begins to compete for Graydon's attention and Ghost learns that life on the road is harsh, complicated and as confusing as the love she seeks. As realization comes, so too does the understanding of why it is Tully she should be with and why Mary offers hope. Learning to distinguish those who want to use her from those who offer genuine protection and care about her brings back Annabel's clear voice permanently, and offers her a chance at a future.